Revelation22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Matthew
11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew
19:13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
19:15 And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.
Evidently there was something disarming about our Jesus for it says that He was called “a friend of publicans and sinners.” Looking on this man called Jesus it seems that no matter where an individual had come from, how lowly they had been, they were able to find a friend in Jesus. Individuals that had been involved in the worst of sins when they came to Jesus found one willing to give them a second chance. Not only that, but they found a grace and a power in him to succeed in that opportunity. When He forgave, He truly did. There truly was a release from the past. “Old things were passed away and behold all things became new.”
And what was so amazing is that He asked nothing in return. He offered this grace freely. Isaiah says that “He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto him: and his righteousness, it sustained him.” In other words, He saw someone wanting to make a change, someone wanting to succeed, and He was just the one to make a way through. It says: “But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” While we had yet nothing to give in return, he offered us freedom, liberty, and salvation if we would but “come.”
And then we are surprised again at how much He gives. So often when something is advertised as “free” we know there is going to be “a catch.” It probably will not add up to much. But not so in Christ. In the Old Testament there was a widow woman who was destitute. To the prophet she cried of her situation. The only thing she had left in the house was a small pot of oil. He told her to go and borrow of her neighbors all of the empty vessels she could obtain. As she returned back into her home and shut the door behind she was told to begin to pour of the little oil she had. She began to pour into the empty vessels one by one. Filling the first vessel, she reached for another. With that vessel full, again, she reached for another, pouring and pouring until every vessel was full. Every vessel she had faith enough to gather had been filled.
Looking a little further at the extent that Christ will go and the extent that He will give, we find another Old Testament example of Christ called Boaz. Here a little woman, this one a young one named Ruth, has lost her husband, brother-in-law, and father-in-law to death and now is about to lose her dear mother-in-law, Naomi, who is leaving Ruth’s country heading back into her own. Naomi must have been a good example for as she was leaving, Ruth wanted to go also, saying: “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” That is quite a statement. As Ruth followed Naomi she had no promise whatsoever of any real future but that strong decision she made that day would be seen of a loving God up above and pay off wonderfully. As they came into Bethlehem Ruth went to glean corn in a field and the Scripture says it was “her hap to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz.” As Boaz heard of this young maiden’s situation and her decision he welcomed her to glean in his field and protection from the young men. Later he offered her a place at his table at mealtime and a little later even instructed the reapers to “let fall some of the handfuls on purpose.” As Naomi finds out that it is Boaz, a near kinsman, in whose field she is gleaning, she takes it another step forward asking Ruth, “Shall I not seek rest for thee?” In other words “Shall I not find a ‘home’ for thee?” She instructs Ruth just how to show her self “available” to Boaz and Ruth finds Boaz’s feelings mutual. Marriage, children, and grandchildren are all in Ruth’s future – all the result of an initial decision made to go with Naomi and her God. We don’t find it any different today. We make an initial decision to follow God and what an important decision it is. How many times have we heard: “I wish I had done this sooner. Why did you not tell me how good this is? (Even though we had.) The more that we are willing to go with Christ the more we find He is ready to give. She started out gleaning in the field and ended up with the field, the house, and the owner of it all.
This may sound too good to be true but yet it is so. Psalm 16 talks of the Lord being “the portion of mine inheritance” and yet Deuteronomy talks of us being His inheritance saying: “The Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.” How He could put such importance on us but He does, saying, we are “the apple of his eye.” He promises us a heavenly home, saying, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” John 14 talks of that place describing it as “a mansion” that He is preparing and that He is preparing it for us even right now. Revelation 3 tells us that Jesus is looking at sharing His throne with us saying that He will “grant to sit with me in my throne.” I don’t comprehend the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s sharing His throne but that is what it says! Do you get a picture of Jesus and his loved ones sharing in the glory of the Lord? Revelation 21 goes further yet and says that the overcomer “shall inherit ALL things; and I will his God, and he shall be my son.” I know it sounds too good to be true and yet He has not failed one word of His promises yet! He has come through on every point. What an opportunity! Wouldn’t it be foolish to miss such a grand invitation and fail to “come?” The song says: “Why do you wait dear brother? Why do you tarry so long? Your Saviour is waiting to give you a place in His sanctified throng. Why not? Why not? Why not come to him now?”
